


Mille-feuille

by Talimee



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Multiverse, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-23 12:08:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17080082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talimee/pseuds/Talimee
Summary: "Everything is.... well, everything. It contains everything that is, was, will be, and more importantly all the mights and maybes. Things and events that we might distantly speculate about, or that we wonder might have happened if events had played out a bit differently... Everything you can imagine is happening out there somewhere." (The Discworld-wiki, https://wiki.lspace.org/mediawiki/Multiverse)Three alternate universe shots of Ash and Eiji, gradually getting more dark.Also a place to play with my headcanons for a few AU-settings.





	Mille-feuille

It takes a while for Eiji's fingers to grow warm again after they sit down amid hundreds of other people. New York winters are cold, he knows that and has dressed himself accordingly, but they had to wait for nearly two hours on Broadway to get through the doors and there is only so much his coat, gloves and pocket hand warmers can do. Especially, once Ash started to push his freezing, gloveless hands into Eiji's coat pockets as well.

“Are the seats OK?”, Ash whispers from the side and Eiji turns to him, nodding and smiling. He sinks deeper into his plush seat, hugs Ash's arm closer to his chest and snuggles against his husband's shoulder.

The quiet comfort doesn't last long, though. Too much is still happening, too many people going to and fro – in the stands as well as on the stage – that Eiji's curiosity is piqued and he resurfaces to look around with interest. He watches the camera crews positioning their gear, laying down cables and tripping over them once in a while. The audience cheers loudly when the show's host appears briefly, wearing only slacks and a dress-shirt. The band arrives and tunes their instruments to another round of applause.

“I'm really glad we got tickets for tonight.” Ash leans over and whispers into his ear. So close that his lips brush against Eiji's skin and make it tingle. He shudders in delight and wishes to be home, alone with Ash in their cozy bedroom in Greenwich Village. But because he is Eiji and will forever be Eiji he cannot help himself but tease Ash a little.

“You're just glad because your boss is a guest tonight and you can collect ammunition for your next conference.” He smirks and casts a glance towards Ash, noting the sly grin on the other's face and knows he is right. There is an ongoing debate between the two prodigy astrophysicists and Eiji has long given up on following it – along with most of the international scientific community. Well, both men seem to be happy enough with their nerd-battle and they respect each other too much to let any bad feelings come between them. Eiji knows that he cannot provide Ash with the mental exercise his 200-plus-IQ needs, so he is content to lend a sympathetic ear to his husband whenever it is needed and otherwise manage the actually important things in their life, like taxes or groceries.

His reverie is brought to an end when the lights in the audience dim and simultaneously light up on stage and on the enormous dome that spans the theater. Eiji is struck breathless by the vibrant colors on display above him but his attention is drawn down to the stage soon enough as the door at the back of it rolls open and their host appears, this time fully suited up and ready to go.

“Welcome to the Late Show, one 'n' all! I'm your host-” The rest is drowned out by cheers.

 

 

As expected, the night air is even colder when they leave the Ed Sullivan Theater and start strolling down Broadway towards the next subway station, keeping an eye out for any handy street vendor selling coffee or hot dogs. They still love those night time walks through their adopted home town, still do them occasionally even though they are 'respectable members of society' now, with steady incomes and retirement plans. The memory of how they started out makes their 1 am street food taste _that_ much better.

As they walk along the road, picking at their food, Eiji notices Ash leaning over to him and turns to look at him.

“A penny for your thoughts”, Ash says with a smile and uses the moment Eiji needs to answer to nick a slice of pickled cucumber from his hot dog.

“Hey”, Eiji says without heat and moves his food out of Ash's greedy reach before giving his answer a second thought. “Not thinking about something in particular”, he says at last because he truly isn't. His mind is still too awed by a whole new concept of the world to be able to condense what he feels into coherent thoughts. “Still trying to wrap my mind around the idea of there being more than one universe.”

“Multiverse”, Ash corrects him.

“Whatever.”

They walk down a block in silence, eating and sharing the night as they used to. Eiji looks up at the sky more than once and imagines stars in place of the everlasting light pollution. A multiverse, Eiji marvels. Folds upon folds of realities, each as vast and complex than the one they live in. And yet separated and forever apart.

“It's daunting”, he says at last. “Thinking that there might be others like us, sharing our life, just like we do, having the same experiences.”

“But each pair of us a tiny bit different, like alternate realities”, Ash adds and slips his hand around Eiji's waist. They stop and turn towards each other. Eiji naturally leans forward and buries his nose in Ash's scarf. He feels queasy as his imagination calculates the possibilities of their life being different, of the ways they could change and twist until there would be a world where they didn't meet, or worse, hate each other. He feels the arm around his waist tighten and looks up to see the same hurtful thoughts reflected in Ash's glistening eyes.

“There is no plane of existence where I don't love you”, Ash vows.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter is losely based on a Late Show episode where Stephen Colbert and Neil DeDrasse Tyson discus philosophy and, among other things, the possibility of another universe where Stephen is supportive of the current president of the US. You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FktrNFjZfKg
> 
> I am convinced that in a 2018-setting Ash and Eiji would totally go to The Late Show.


End file.
